I had an informative phone chat with a counterpart of mine at a large international prop firm.  They house thousands of traders globally.  They, like us, back all of their traders.  They, like us, have their own proprietary trading technology that only firm traders can use.  They, like us, trade many different products. He, like me, trains all of the new traders the firm hires.

He said something during our call that deserves a spotlight.

This global proprietary trading firm does not allow their traders to trade live until they show consistency on a trading simulator.

You might call this proof of concept.

You might call this earning your right to trade firm capital.

You might call this displaying edge in practice before you play in a game.

If a leading trading firm does not allow it’s capital to be placed at risk before competence on a simulator, then why should you- with your personal trading account?

Said another way……

Damn right we talkin bout practice! ( See Allen Iverson)

*no relevant positions